Together young people spread the reading culture

Strangers become acquaintances

Immersed in the program in response to World Mental Health Day on October 10, 2022, I am wildly excited that young people engage in the activity of writing letters to each other to listen, accompany and share.

Some people have never known each other or only faintly heard their names from Facebook or through words from other people but through letters sharing their loneliness when away from home and difficulties in life, many young people quickly suggest connecting and making friends.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Tien, a first-year student at Hue University, said, “From the Central Highlands to Hue for my studies, I was really strange. When sharing my feelings with my personal Facebook information, I received many words of making friends and encouragement."

Social networks are inherently twofold, but many young people have made the most of the positive sides to bring people closer together. Among them, transmitting positive energy to life is chosen by many young people. As a person close to students and a psychologist, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, Dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Education, Hue University witnessed many positive fire-transmitting activities from young people.

According to Dr. Hung, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted mental health services over the past two years and widened the treatment gap for mental health conditions. However, many young people have known how to dispel the stresses of life by building positive, friendly, supportive, and sharing relationships.

Strangers becoming acquaintances is not a new story. From seeking connections on Facebook and Zalo, or joining clubs, teams, groups, and associations inside and outside the university, people who are inherently unfamiliar meet, get acquainted, and become friends.

Nguyen Thi Ly Na, a former student of the University of Economics, Hue University said, “Once, I attended an event at university and happened to know that a classmate had difficulties while away from home. At first, I just asked, encouraged her with a few words, and then give each other phone numbers. But talking for ages, I accidentally met myself somewhere in her story and then became close. Since then, we have accompanied in learning as well as after graduation, supported and shared joys and sorrows. Once, when getting to her dormitory, hearing that she ran out of money and had to go hungry, although not living in abundance, I sneakily put a hundred thousand dongs under her pillow with a message that she took it for temporary use. Afterward, we had a tearful phone call.”

Together students engage in skill-developing activities

Positive lifestyle spread

Aside from dynamism, sensitivity upon absorbing and selecting appropriate values, and ability to socialize and make friends, Vietnamese young people also prove that they are the leading generation in updating and spreading the prevailing living trends in modern society.

Van Phuc, a young man,  working in food technology in Hue City said, “From people with different interests, but when we get to know one another, we change towards new trends. Among them, we choose a minimalist lifestyle, eat a healthy diet, and immerse ourselves in the "green" living trend of young people. Even choosing soaps, perfumes..., we also shift to using products extracted from nature."

There are countless trends among young people, and once becoming close, friends can easily spread positive lifestyles together. According to Ly Na, during travel by motorbike, the groups that follow "displacementism" transmit the messages of environmental protection: organizing their garbage collection and cleaning up the destination. "There are new friends who used to have a habit of littering, but upon joining the group, they kicked that bad habit," said Ly Na.

Young people often tell one another that many points still need to be changed, but in the flat world and technology era, many young people desire to aim for positive life values and seek satisfaction in the soul, learn to save and focus more on the core values they need to have.

Story and photos: Huu Phuc